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Thursday, 31 January 2013

UNESCO assures rebuilding Mali’s cultural heritage

With the hope that the ‘madness’ over destruction of heritage in Mali’s
Timbuktu will subside, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has announced that
the world body would rebuild the damages incurred.

According to a news brief on UNESCO website,Bokova
described the heritage loss in Mali’s crisis as “a vital part of the country’s
identity and history and fundamental for its future. Its restoration and
reconstruction will give the people of Mali the strength and the confidence to
rebuild national unity and look to the future.”

About a week ago, the Mayor of Timbuktu disclosed that fleeing rebels
torched two buildings containing manuscripts as old as 13th century. That was
coming after several other reported cases of destruction of the country’s
heritage by the Malian rebels.

The Director-General noted the “wanton
destruction of Mali’s heritage,” as deserving “urgent” attention.

Listed among the sites to be rebuilt are
the mausoleums of Timbuktu and the tomb of Askia in Gao. Bokova urged “all our partners to work
with us.”

UNESCO stated that it will send a
mission, as soon as security permits, to undertake a complete evaluation of the
damage and determine the most urgent needs, in order to finalize a plan of
action, in cooperation with the Government of Mali, that will guide
reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Timbuktu’s three major mosques,
Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahi, along with 16 mausoleums, were first
inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1988. The Askia Tomb in the city
of Gao followed in 2004. In July 2012, following the destruction of 11 of the
mausoleums, and the doors of Sidi Yahi, both sites were inscribed on
UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.

The statement added: “UNESCO was
instrumental in providing topographic maps and coordinates to the armed forces
of Mali, France and Chad to help prevent shelling of these sites.

“In times of turmoil, the risks of
illicit trafficking of cultural objects are at the highest, with Mali’s
renowned ancient manuscripts being the most vulnerable.”, said the
Director-General, highlighting the importance of the 1970 Convention. In this
context, she renewed her call to the leaders of Mali’s neighbouring countries,
Interpol, the World Customs Organization and all those involved with the art
market, urging them to be vigilant as to the illicit export and traffic of any
cultural artefact out of the country. “These treasures are extremely valuable
and vulnerable. We must act quickly,” she said.

UNESCO noted that an estimated 300,000
manuscripts are kept in private and public collections in Timbuktu. Many of
them date from the 13th to 16th centuries and were produced by great scholars
from the city and elsewhere or came from the ancient markets of North Africa,
Al-Andalus and the eastern-most countries of the Arab region. These ancient
manuscripts bear unique witness to centuries of civilization, exploring such
subjects as religious studies, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, music,
literature, poetry, and architecture.

In 1974, UNESCO
helped to set up the Ahmed Baba research centre, where are stored about 40,000
of the manuscripts. Of these, some 10,000 have been digitized. The
Director-General said, “We will work with both the private and public
collections, to ensure the effective preservation of this documentary heritage,
including its digitization when possible”.